Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh

She's the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, which is also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, and many other awards.

She's the founder of the organization Local Futures and the author of the book Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh.

as well as the one that I just finished reading called Local is Our Future.

She's the producer of the film The Economics of Happiness, as well as several other films, most recently a short film called Trade Gone Mad.

I wanted to begin though in one quote that I heard you say on one of the many interviews that I listened to with you.

And it was somebody who said, let's see here, I'm going to look in my notes.

They said, I think this was in praise of your book, Ancient Futures.

And they said, thank you for helping us realize that our dreams are actually distant memories.

Yes, in a way, in a way, 40 years or even 50 years, my organization is still there, yes.

So you really sort of became, and I've been reading your book, which is here on the table, Ancient Futures.

And so I've been able to really experience through your perspective what it was like to be there.

But I didn't fully understand before reading your book how deeply ingrained you became in that community.

What's happening there? Is it like a sort of, it's a breakdown of a belief system and is it filled with the optimism of what you've seen in Ladakh or is it filled with a sense of dread or anxiety for what comes next or how to navigate that sort of big shift in your mindset?

Well, partly I was so supported by the multitude of language groups who loved what I was saying.

And later on when Ancient Futures came out, which was more or less at the point when things were turning in the west.

That's your book, Ancient Futures, which we have